[Fsf-friends] Re: KC and open source

[Shakthi Kannan]

Hi Malovika Roy and others,

My thoughts below:

--- malovika roy <malovika at gmail.com> wrote:
> is the
> lack of coordination and
> sharing of knowledge. 

Lack of know-how on *collaboration*. Its very new to
most Indians in India.

Also, people in India seldom market themselves. You
really need to address people in radio/television to
reach the masses. We _have_ to market free software.

> coordiantion, but then why arent successful projects
> shared or talked about
> in forums like this one? 

Most activities in FSUGs/GLUGs in India, that I have
seen are with helping people with installation,
software, Internet connectivity, local meets,
troubleshooting etc. Creating awareness and helping
newbies is the first priority.

> there is still a big void of contribution to the
> public sector. 

Even private sector for that matter, how many
companies release their software under GPL?

* How many companies allow public e-mail access
(google, yahoo and others) 24x7 to its employees to
use/access mailing lists? You can use your official
e-mail ID provided they don't attach nonsensical legal
disclaimers which are against the philosophy of free
software.

* How many of them allow FTP/IRC access?

* How many of them sponsore employees to participate
in free software events?

Most of the Indian companies in India that I've seen
are headed by folks who are from an older generation
and were not introduced to FLOSS. Hence, *educating*
them on how to work with the community is critical.
Or, we have to wait for this generation to come up.

Just my thoughts,

SK

--
Shakthi Kannan
http://www.shakthimaan.com

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